The Asia-Pacific Journal | Japan Focus Volume 13 | Issue 36 | Number 1 | Article ID 4371 | Sep 07, 2015

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SEALDs: Students Slam Abe’s Assault on Japan’s Constitution

Jeff Kingston

Team Abe keeps saying it will try to gain publicunderstanding of its controversial securitylegislation, but there are few signs that it iswinning anyone over. The massive youth-leddemonstration in front of the Diet on August30, widely reported as involving more than120,000 Japanese spanning the often-dividedliberal spectrum and involving all generations,is a sign of the times.1 Demonstrators loudlydenounced Prime Minister Abe Shinzo as athreat to peace and the constitution while somesigns depicted him as a warmongering fascisttyrant and puppet of Uncle Sam.

Although NHK’s 7 PM News declared it Tokyo’slargest demonstration, the program devoted farmore time to an investigation into faulty plasticstools! This marks a mild improvement over thenews blackout in 2011 when NHK ignored amassive anti-nuclear rally in Yoyogi Park justacross the street. It also ignored the self-immolation of a middle-aged man protesting onthe eve of Abe’s cabinet reinterpretation ofArticle 9 on July 1, 2014.

Since that grisly spectacle, strong public

opposition to Abe’s security legislation hasspilled out on to the streets of Tokyo, anencouraging sign in Japan’s otherwisedispiriting political scene. Students are in thevanguard of this movement and they areattracting throngs of Japanese who share theirsense of outrage about Abe’s trampling onJapan’s Constitution and pacifist norms.

SEALDs

The quixotic Student Emergency Action forLiberal Democracy (SEALDs) has served as aninspiration for the nation, organizingdemonstrations and arousing and instigatingpolitical engagement extending well beyonduniversity undergrads.

SEALDs are part of a post-3.11 continuum ofprotests by citizens angered by the Fukushimanuclear reactor meltdowns, Abe’s 2012 secrecylegislation that undermined transparency,accountability and democratic values,government inaction in the face of racistassaults on the rights of resident ethnicKoreans and rightwing vigilantism targeting

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the liberal media that in 2014 Abe publicallyapplauded in the Diet.

SEALDs was launched on May 3, 2015,Constitution Day, highlighting the group’sconcerns that Abe’s security legislation istantamount to a stealth revision that fails toadhere to proper constitutional procedures.The core members of SEALDs belonged to theStudents Against Secret Protection Law(SASPL) that protested Abe’s secrecy bill fromFebruary to December of 2014. That legislationpassed, but they were aroused by the AbeCabinet’s decision on July 1, 2014 toautocratically reinterpret Article 9 of theConstitution to allow Japan to exercise the rightof collective self-defense. Promoting such aradical shift in Japan’s security policy withoutfo l lowing procedures la id out in theConstitution for revising the constitutionspurred the students to take to the streets topreserve constitutionalism.

Launched in Tokyo and Kansai, SEALDs hassince blossomed into a nationwide networkwith branches in Ryuku (Okinawa), Tohoku andsoon Tokai, with an estimated 400 coremembers and far more loyal adherents andsupporters who regularly participate inprotests, but are not formally members. Coremembers organize the demos, produce leafletsand posters, handle the media, and organizeand run study groups. Its still early to speak ofa new social movement, but it does seem to bea success in terms of mainstreaming politicalactivism and making it seem unthreatening tothe public while giving a voice to the majoritywho are incensed by Abe’s steamrollering hissecurity agenda through the Diet.

Robin O’Day, a researcher at TsukubaUniversity, says that key core members fromMeiji Gakuin, International ChristianUniversity, Sophia and Hosei, among thecenters of activity, all attended the same highschool. A number of these are historicallyChristian Universities. However, Meiji Gakuin's

Tom Gill cautions against reading too muchinto this Christian connection. He points outthat his university has an active Peace StudiesInstitute and "...a liberal-left tradition. Partly itstems from being a Protestant mission school.Christianity tends to be associated withconservatism in countries where it dominates,but with progressivism where it is a minorityfaith." "Few of the faculty and very few of thestudents are actually Christians," he adds, "buta little bit of the crusading spirit of KagawaToyohiko, a pioneering social activist andfamous Meigaku graduate, has somehowlingered on." In contrast to the 1960s Ampostudent movement, leading national publicuniversities such as Tokyo University and KyotoUniversity have not played leadership roles.

So what does SEALDs revea l aboutcontemporary Japan? Certainly the studentschallenge the prevailing negative stereotypethat youth today are politically apathetic,disengaged and happily retreating into thevirtual world. They are a small vanguard thattaps into SNS to amplify their influence andm o b i l i z e s y m p a t h i z e r s t o j o i n i ndemonstrations.

Mainstreaming Street Politics

Taking advantage of what Sophia University’sDavid Slater cal ls a perfect storm ofopportunity, SEALDs is tapping into

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mainstream anxieties about Abe’s overallagenda. Slater, and his research colleagueRobin O’Day, have been tracking SEALDs fromthe outset through an ethnographic projectthey call "Voices of Protest Japan" (comingsoon), interviewing all the core members andamassing reams of data.

O’Day says they are impressed with theresilience and adaptability of the movement,defying expectations that it might run out ofsteam.

The large and loud crowds that regularlygather outside the Diet on Friday evenings arethe result of student activists trying to dosomething constructive to block PrimeMinister’s Abe’s security legislation. The coreactivists in Students Emergency Action forLiberal Democracy (SEALDs) say they want toprotect Japan’s liberal democratic values andpromote constitutionalism. SEALDs is wooing apublic that shuns radicalism and extremistactions meaning no leftist jargon, Molotovcocktails, police confrontation or hungerstrikes. There is a sense that the moreconfrontational style of protests and politicalagitation in the 1960s played into thegovernment’s hands, enabling it to portrayactivists as extremists and deny the movementbroader public support.

Okuda Aki, a 23 year-old student at MeijiGakuin and founder of SEALDs, insists, “If onegovernment can change things just with theirinterpretation, then the Constitution itself isaltered and the government can do whatever itwants.” Like many other SEALDs members,Okuda is often seen sporting a T-shirtemblazoned with “Destroy Fascism”. Whileacknowledging that the conservative forces ofdarkness are well entrenched, Okudaunderstands the unrelenting power of ideas inaction. “This is not a top-down movement,mobilized by the leaders of certain groups. Noone can stop people who have begun to thinkand take action.”

SEALDs moderate manifesto stands in contrastto the Marxist ideology of the 1960s protestors,urging respect for the Constitution, liberaldemocratic values and existing security policieswhile also calling for improving the socialsafety net, positions that enjoy broad publicsupport.

Hosei University’s Yamaguchi Jiro says, “It isthe first movement that has no connection withleft parties or political organizations. They arespontaneous, and their words are fresh.” ”Theiramateurism has inspired ordinary citizens, andmade them feel they should do whatever theycan do to prevent the Abe administration fromimposing the new security legislation.” Headds, ”It is a big surprise for me that theJapanese people still have such a strongattachment to the Pacifist Constitution.”

Ogawa Akihiro, the Chair of Japanese Studiesat the University of Melbourne, has beenstudying 21st century protest movements inJapan, noting that “During SEALDs' protestdemonstrations, I often heard three major calls:"Kenpō Mamore! (Protect the Constitution),Abe wa yamero! (Abe, Quit), Sensō suruna!(Don't make war)." In his view, SEALDs drewinspiration from the political ferment of thepast five years sparked by the Fukushimameltdowns and Abe’s reactionary agenda and“tyrannical attitude”.

Ritsumeikan’s Honna Jun draws parallels withthe pro-democracy youth movements targetingentrenched interests elsewhere in Asiaincluding Hong Kong, Taiwan and Indonesia,“effectively using social media to gain

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inspiration, organize events, recruit people,and expand networks.” In his view,” SEALDs isa very important new student activism longwaited in Japan's political process. It is newbecause the movement is non-partisan and isnot ideology-oriented.”

Ogawa points out that, “Members of SEALDsdo not necessarily disagree with any revision ofthe Constitution; what they want is politicsbased on ‘constitutionalism’ or rikken shugi.”

Tom Gill, the Meiji Gakuin anthropologist,adds, “The other half of the story is the markedshift to the right by the LDP under Abe, whichhas prompted the revival of a long-dormanttradition of student radicalism.” SEALDs, hereminds us, “ is campaigning for freedom anddemocracy, not communism or anarchism. Theyfeel more left wing because the establishmenthas become more right wing.”

Sophia University’s Nakano Koichi says,SEALDs is “trying to build a new politicalculture”, what Slater and O’Day call “thepolitics of the regular”. Nakano says they areconsciously seeking to mainstream theirmessage to reach a wider audience because“the Japanese public is allergic to extremismand shuns the radicalism of the 1960s.”SEALDs wants to normalize pol i t icalengagement and activism, drawing on therecent experience of Taiwan, Hong Kong and

Occupy Wall Street while interacting with like-minded organizations and counterparts all overthe world.

The goal, according to Nakano, is “not havingto be a full-time radical activist to engage instreet politics…its supporters are regularstudents who plan to lead regular lives and whowant political engagement to become a newn o r m i n J a p a n , s i m i l a r t o w e s t e r ndemocracies.” Cynics will no doubt bemuttering “good luck with that”, but asKimij ima told me, “Their naiveté andenthusiasm encourages and inspires peoplewho have given up trying.” Sure they makemistakes and its easy to second guess theirtactics and agenda, but because they are notjaded by defeat, “unlike the old, they don’thesitate to act…this is their strength,” he adds.

Staking out the middle ground has also drawncriticism from some older leftist groups whodisparage SEALDs’ moderate tactics, a snipingthat Nakano likens to “Getting bullets frombehind”. Slater disagrees with those whodenigrate SEALDs as, “more sheen thansubstance, more fashion than politics.”Adding,” I think these critics are missing thepoint. SEALDs have gotten more people from awider demographic onto the streets and awareof the issues. That they don't look like the oldor new left—all the better. Maybe they willsucceed where others failed.”

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Rebooting Pacifism

SEALDs focus is on Abe’s disregard for theConstitution, but its agenda is clearly pacifist.Ritsumeikan’s Kimijima says that SEALDswants Japan to be a nation based on the rule oflaw, and believes that Abe is flouting theConstitution, the supreme law of the land.Apparently, there is no shortage of Japanesewho agree with them.

Th is pas t June in the D ie t , eminentconstitutional scholars dismissed Abe’s securitylegislation as unconstitutional, putting wind inSEALDs sails. Since then, almost all of Japan’sconstitutional scholars have joined incondemning Abe’s putsch as did a formerSupreme Court justice and a number of ex-directors of the Cabinet Legislative Bureau, thebureaucratic entity that screens bills todetermine their constitutionality. The LDPcontinues to cite the 1959 Supreme Courtdecision on the Sunakawa case to justify itslegislation allowing Japan to exercise the rightof collective self-defense, but as law professorLawrence Repeta points out, “the Sunakawadecision did not address collective self-defenseat all.” Lawrence Repeta, "Japan's ProposedNational Security Legislation — Will This be theend of Article 9?" The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol.13, Issue. 24, No. 3, June 22, 2015.

In July, Muto Takaya, at the time an LDP Dietmember, arrogantly disparaged SEALDs forbeing selfish and pacifist. He has sinceresigned from the party following allegations offinancial and sexual misconduct, but hiscomments sparked a backlash. Kimijima pointsout that young Japanese volunteers working atNGOs all over the world have made significantcontributions to building peace in war-torncountries, a far more effective example ofproactive pacifism than PM Abe’s militarizedversion. These young people and the SEALDsactivists, he argues, draw on the pacifistinspiration of Japan’s peace constitution andare dedicated to promoting “peace by peaceful

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means”, an approach that resonates powerfullyworldwide and within Japan. But not in the Dietit appears.

Outside the Diet at the August 30 rally I met anumber of disgruntled Komeito members whoare appalled at their leadership for abandoningthe party’s core pacifist principles and cavinginto Abe. I also met activists associated withlocal housewives associations, Christiangroups, various unions and also the studentorganization Zengakuren, all expressingopposition to Abe’s attack on Japanese pacifismand expressing solidarity with SEALDs.Inspired by SEALDs, Mothers Against War(Mama no Kai) has also joined protests,circulated petitions and directly lobbied Dietmembers. There is also a SEALDs junior forhigh school students, TNS-SOWL, whichregularly participates in SEALDs protests. Atthe massive rally I met some septuagenariansand octagenarians, self-designated groups ofMIDDLEs and OLDs, and many participantswho appeared unaffiliated, but eager todenounce the pronounced rightward shift inJapan’s conservative political establishment.

It is also clear that Japan’s scholarly communitysupports SEALDs in its efforts to protect theconstitution against Abe. Reading the list ofsignatories to the appeal circulated by theAssociation of Scholars Opposed to theSecurity-related Bills, one quickly understandswhy Team Abe has proposed eliminatinghumanities and social sciences programs atnational universities, although some natural

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scientists are also among the signatories. Intheir view Abe, is undermining the rule of lawand flouting the constitution. Ironically, Abe’sDefense Minister, Nakatani Gen, wrote a fewyears ago that revising the Constitution byreinterpretation and legislation would lacklegitimacy. That is exactly the policy he is nowtasked with spearheading. The scholars warnthat somehow, sometime, somewhere, Japanwill be dragged into an American-instigatedwar at Washington’s behest and regard Abe asendangering the nation in order to promote hisreactionary agenda.

On September 6 these scholars and SEALDsjointly staged a large rally in Shinjuku. Themembership includes nearly 14,000 scholars,and almost 30,000 supporters, with associatedgroups at some 100 universities. The number ofprotestors was about 12,000, thronging themain thoroughfare, where crowds gathered tohear speeches and show solidarity. SophiaUniversity’s Nakano Koichi says that SEALDshas asked scholars for suggestions on readinglists and some professors are participating instudy sessions, a collaborative effort aimed atcontextualizing protest activism in the arc ofJapanese history and the wider globaldiscourse.

SEALDs links with other activist groups areextensive. One observer told me that “TokyoDemocracy Crew (TDC) has ceded the spotlightto the more youthful SEALDs, and these daysthey are assisting SEALDs from behind thescenes. They play vital roles, but they don’tseek attention.” Others suggest that TDC alsohelps with security by monitoring the crowds,keeping things peaceful and removingsaboteurs. In addition, the Japan Federation ofBar Associations remains politically engaged inits own right, but also provides legal advice toSEALDs.

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Women from Saitama give Abe a yellow card

Tokyo Democracy Crew

Nakano explains, “Number-wise, the ‘oldschool’ pacifist groups and labor unions, calledSogakari, which are now united across thetraditional political divide, remain the greatest.Sogakari organizes the weekly Thursdayprotests, whereas SEALDs organizes theweekly Friday protests. In the week of theLower House vote, every day Sogakari startedthe protest earlier in the day, and SEALDs tookover later in the evening. Similarly, in the weekof the expected Upper House vote starting onSeptember 14, the same is likely to happen.”

Media Savvy

SEALDs cooperates with the media by holdingpress conferences, offering interviews, andorchestrating eye catching events that attractsreaders and boosts television ratings. Theyappear polite, thoughtful and articulate,cultivating a reassuring image that makes theirrightist detractors appear more unhinged thanusual. They have also wooed the internationalpress, knowing that fame abroad can translateinto legitimacy and coverage at home. It almostseems professional , but strong sel f -presentation and multimedia skills comenaturally to 21st century youth.

It is striking just how media savvy SEALDs iswith an English acronym, provocative placardsin English, a handsome and effective Englishlanguage website, and good looking youthswaying to the drums while belting out tunefulchants. Meiji Gakuin’s Tom Gill says a membertold him that the idea of adopting an Englishacronym, “was to make themselves moreidentifiable to international media” on thepremise that “getting mentioned abroad is agood way to get local media to start taking youseriously.” Regarding their deft media presencehe says, “they are just applying the on-linepractices of their personal lives to politicalends.”

On its website SEALDs displays a cool coat ofarms, with a quadrant depicting a book, a quill,a megaphone and headphones with a playbutton icon in the center, demonstrating acanny sense of branding. Some reactionariesthreaten that demonstrators will have a toughtime job-hunting, but ad agencies and any firmlooking for inspired, resourceful and skillfulworkers ought to beat a path to their doors.

Nakano notes that older leftists complain thatordinary Japanese don’t understand the pithyEnglish placards, but SEALDs embraces acosmopolitan outlook, connecting threats toJapanese democracy and constitutionalgovernment to global developments. At recentprotests I asked some older people about theSEALD sign they were holding, “I can’t believeI’m still protesting this shit.” It seems they fullyunderstood and approved the gist of themessage taking its place in a sea of “No War”and “Protect Article 9” signs.

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Sustainability?

Given that Abe’s security legislation is a donedeal in the Diet, what comes next for SEALDs?It seems there is a target-rich environment forliberals and progressives eager to defenddemocracy and constitutionalism in Abe’sJapan. Anti-nuclear activists are prominent attheir rallies, and judging from placards and T-shirts there is concern about a perceived tide offascism, but there is also growing concernabout the social safety net and the fate of thevulnerable. The growing precariat in Japan,now 38% of all workers, are disproportionatelyyoung and women. Abe’s structural reforms areaimed at accelerating the rise in non-regularemployment in low paid, dead-end jobs with nojob security or benefits, a significant factor inincome disparities, deflation, decliningmarriage rates, low fertility, and suicide.

According to O’Day, however, precarity andinequality, issues that helped catapult theDemocratic Party of Japan into power in 2009,are secondary concerns for SEALDs. Of greaterconcern for college students is controlling"Black Corporations", strengthening the socialsafety net, and bolstering legislation thatprotects workers from abuses.” And “they are

not directly aligning themselves withestablished political ideologies about precaritythat already exist among other socialmovements in Japan.”Will resurgent movements play a key role in the2016 Upper House elections and help unify thefractured opposition? The LDP won only about25% of the total potential vote in December2014, so SEALDs hopes that backing strongopposition candidates regardless of partyaffiliation and getting out the votes is the bestway to revive democracy and unseat the LDP.The larger question is whether SEALDs canbecome a sustainable movement that can lead aresurgence of Japanese democracy.

Jeff Kingston, Director of Asian Studies, TempleUniversity Japan and author of AsianNationalisms Since 1945 (Wiley 2016), editor ofAsian Nationalism Reconsidered (Routledge2015) and Press Freedom in Japan (Routledge2016) . He is an Asia -Paci f ic JournalContributing Editor.

Recommended citation: Jeff Kingston, "SEALDs:Students Slam Abe’s Assault on Japan’sConstitution", The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 13,Issue 36, No. 1, September 7, 2015.

Notes

1 The numbers remain controversial with policeestimating 35,000 and organizers 350,000including many thousands trapped by policeand unable to exit from subways or herdedelsewhere.

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